Popeil, an inventor and the face of infomercials for “as-seen-on-TV” products like Showtime Rotisserie and Pocket Fisherman, has died. He was 86.
His family told TMZ that Popeil had a medical emergency on Tuesday and died Wednesday morning surrounded by family at Los Angeles’ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Popeil was best known for the “Set it and forget it” catchphrase used to sell Showtime Rotisserie in late-night infomercials. Long before air fryers became the kitchen appliance du jour, the countertop rotisserie appliance took the home cooking world by storm, having sold over $1 billion worth, TMZ reported.
In the early 1950s, Popeil teamed up with his partner at the time, Mel Korey, to produce the first modern minute-long, black and white commercial for slightly over $500, according to the biography on his official site.
But Popeil was not just a face selling a product like the influencers of today. The New York City-native founded the Ronco company in 1964, selling products created by his father, Samuel “S.J.” Popeil, who created the Chop-o-Matic and the Veg-o-Matic.
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His products can be seen in the Smithsonian Museum today.
According to TMZ, the entrepreneur made a fortune estimated at $200 million in his career and had droves of fans who called themselves “the Rontourage.” He also set a QVC record in 2000 selling over $1 million worth of his Showtime Rotisseries — or approximately 150 units each minute — during a one-hour live segment.
Perhaps due to the catchiness of his infomercials, Popeil was a hot figure himself, having been portrayed by Dan Aykroyd on a 1976 episode of “Saturday Night Live.” The “SNL” skit saw Aykroyd poking fun of the infomercial style with a fictional “Bat-O-Matic” product.
A celebrity in his own right, he also made appearances on the likes of “The X-Files,” “King of the Hill,” “The Simpsons,” “Old School” and “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
